The Build Up
by xHellsYeahDixonne
Summary: AU One Shot. After a chance meeting Michonne and Daryl were connected, they hadn't realized it but they were connected for life. This is just the start of their happy ending together.


**A/N: Here is the one shot to go with the edit I posted on tumblr, I hope you like it. I could turn this into a chapter fic but for now it will remain a one shot as I'm about to get super busy. Please excuse any spelling errors or anything of a similar nature, I have no edited.**

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, in fact the title of this one shot belongs to the amazing Kimbra.**

Michonne huffed and walked over the poorly built foot bridge, the construction workers did not do a good job of this one. She kept walking too wrapped up in her own thoughts of the latest case when she lost her footing, this was it, she was probably about to break her arm.

"Ahh!" she was flying through the air until she was suddenly caught by a solid pair of arms "oomph…"

"sorry Ma'am, whoever built this foot bridge an' deemed it safe needs tah be shot" the man said as he placed her on her feet, she turned her head and was met with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen.

They turned to face each other, each taking the time to look one another over "thank you" she practically whispered, their eyes still locked. Michonne wasn't used to someone's gaze being as fierce as her own, it was something she was known for as a lawyer, she could study people by looking into their eyes and holding their gaze, she could get a proper read on them.

But this man, this man was different. His eyes were guarded, as if he knew that people would try to read them.

"No problem darlin'" he winked at her and broke her out of the trance she was in.

She walked away feeling as if she needed to see him again, and she did.

He wasn't traditionally attractive, but to her he was stunning, his face was structured and angular, he had high cheek bones, and rough facial hair, his lips were thin and pink and kissable. His eyes were piercing and she couldn't help but stare.

"Hey Princess, yew haven't been fallin' over for any otha construction workers have yew?" the blue eyed construction worker chuckled as she past him

"I wouldn't dream of finding another knight in fluoro armour" she grinned at the man "Now, since I've made that commitment I think I should know my knights name"

"The name's Daryl, what yers?"

"Michonne, I work in the building next door. Speaking of, I better head off or I'll be late" she smiled "thanks again and It was good seeing you Daryl."

She ran off, leaving Daryl to get back to work. He loved the way his name sounded on her lips, He hadn't gotten her out of his thoughts since the day before and he was glad to see her again. She was beautiful, breath-taking in fact.

Her dark brown eyes were so deep and mesmerizing, she full lips were all I could see in his mind, he wanted to know how they felt, were they as soft as they looked. Her skin was a beautiful shade of chocolate that looked so sweet and smooth.

He spent the rest of the day trying not to get distracted by thoughts of her, this wasn't the type of profession where you could be distracted, and especially not when he was working for his older brother. Merle Dixon would not take his shit, he had agreed to hire Daryl as a favour to his little brother and there was no one he rode harder.

Michonne passed by the next day on her way to work and was disappointed when she didn't seen Daryl, she almost lost a new client she'd been so distracted at work the day before. He was practically all she thought about.

"No need ta be disappointed 'Chonne, I'm right here" Daryl chuckled, startling her out of her thoughts

"Well that's good, couldn't imagine a day without seeing you" she teased, in reality she meant it but he didn't need to know that

"same goes fer yew beautiful" he gave her a grin as he continued to dig "jus' out of curiousity, where do yew work sweetheart?"

"Thompson and Hill, the law firm on level 6" she gave him a shrug "Guess I don't have to ask the same" she chuckled "Anyway, you have a nice day Daryl, I'm sure I'll be seeing you later" she grinned and walked off.

To say Daryl was intimidated was an understatement; the gorgeous woman he'd been chatting up was a lawyer. Talk about out of his league, she was obviously just humouring him to be polite for saving her.

He chuckled to himself when he realized that Thompson and Hill had been the law firm that represented Merle after his accident. That certainly made things interesting.

His older brother had been working for Woodbury Construction Limited when one of the machines malfunctioned, sliced his hand clean off and landed him in hospital for 2 months with no income coming in and the owner of the company, Phillip Blake refusing to pay compensation. Not only that but Phillip had the nerve to fire him for being Merle's brother. After hearing of Merle's situation Rick, Daryl's close friend and police officer recommended Thompson and Hill because his girlfriend, Andrea was a lawyer there, turned out she was a human rights lawyer and she was infuriated, so she took on the case and agreed not to charge any fees.

Needless to say there had been a huge neglect on the company's part, especially when it came out that their business manager Milton had previously informed Phillip of the dangers of not replacing the machine. After winning the case Merle was awarded 2 million dollars in medical costs, owed wages and compensation for the toll it had taken on him personally. Daryl was also given 50 thousand dollars for unfair dismissal and undue stress which he had banked and intended to use as a deposit on a house.

"Hey Meesh, how are you?" her blonde friend questioned as she walked in

"Great, yourself?" she smiled taking a seat at her desk, the two of them shared an office and were pretty much inseparable

"I'm good" the blonde gave her grin "you know that construction company? That's Merle Dixon's construction company"

"Merle Dixon as in Dixon versus Woodbury Construction Limited?" she questioned the blonde

"the one and only, he used the money to buy a house and start his own company, it's doing well too" the blonde beamed, there was nothing that made her happier than getting justice for people.

"Looks like Merle's done well for himself" that was when it dawned on her, Daryl was Merle's younger brother, the same one who got 50 grand out of the case. She was surprised to realize he was still working hard for his brother.

"I know, he's a lot smarter than people give him credit for, he's running that company on his own. He gets my help to look over contracts every so often."

"You're far too nice Andrea, offering your services for free"

"That's what Rick said" she laughed "except this case will go into law textbooks, it's pretty infamous and I get to say that I was the one behind it."

"So you're Daryl Dixon huh" she grinned at the man as she approached his tilted his head to look at her

"The one and only sweetheart" he chuckled "how did you figure it out?"

"My friend Andrea worked on your brother's case, she's pretty proud of the fact that she won for your brother." Michonne smiled

"She should be, that bastard Blake owed him" the younger Dixon shrugged

"I know and he owed you apparently, so what are you still doing working for your brother?"

"I want to buy a house outright, 50 thousand aint enough for that" he answered simply

"I admire that" she smiled "anyway, as you've probably noticed, it's lunch time right now and I was hoping that maybe you'd come for lunch with me?" she was surprisingly nervous.

"Yew don't have to ask twice, jus' let me make sure the boss clears and I'll meet yew there?"

"Meet you at the café on the corner then, see you there" she gave him another grin before walking away.

Michonne sat at the table tapping her foot nervously, what if he no showed, he probably thought it was creepy that she knew who he was.

"What's on yer mind sweetheart? Yew didn't really think I wouldn't show did yah?" Daryl took a seat in front of her, a teasing smile on his face

"I knew you'd show up Daryl, you could never resist my charm" she laughed

"yew got that right" he gave her another one of his trademark winks "I'm lookin' at this menu and I'm seein' a bunch of stuff, what's yer favourite?"

"Probably the chicken and pesto pasta" she smiled "I love my carbs"

"Sounds good ta me" he chuckled.

Soon they were ordering and conversation flowed naturally, they had little in common except for Andrea and the court case but it had barely been a topic for them. They spent what had to be two hours in café which worked fine for Michonne because she had the second half of her day off, she wasn't so sure how it'd work out for Daryl on other hand.

"You sure it's alright that you're away this long? I know Merle's your brother but…"

"But nothing sweetheart, he'll understand." He shrugged

"Before we go, there was one more thing I wanted to ask you. On Friday it's the Thompson and Hill Christmas party and I need a date. Do you uh…want to come with me?" she was admittedly more nervous than she expected.

"Of course" Daryl grinned.

They parted ways outside the café, with Michonne heading home and Daryl heading back to work.

"Want to explain why yer an hour late from yer lunch break baby brotha?" Merle frowned at his younger brother, he had no problem with being lenient on his brother, frankly after the childhood they'd had the kid deserved it.

"Sorry bro, lost track of time, won't happen again" Daryl gave his brother a smile

"Better not" he nodded at his brother, trying to show that it wasn't actually a problem.

"Meesh, how about we go dress shopping after work?" Andrea suggested, the two of them were busy trying to wrap things up for the day, they both had new cases and new case files to sort out.

"Sounds good" she mumbled, she heard her, but she was concentrating.

"Did you get a date for Christmas party?" the blonde questioned

"Yup" Michonne answered simply, she'd have fun taunting her friend

"And you're not going to tell me who it is, are you?" she said flatly

"You'll see"

An hour later they were heading into their first store, Michonne spotted the dress she wanted right away, It was a figure hugging maroon dress with black trimming, she was in love. Andrea found her a headband to match and she was all ready for the party the next day. Her bestfriend went for a lace trimmed black dress in same store; they were both surprised at how quick they made their decisions.

"I don't think it's ever been this easy to find an outfit before" Michonne chuckled

"I know, I'm beginning to think the end of the world is near" Andrea joked.

The night of the party came around fast, Michonne and Daryl had been to lunch every day before hand and gotten to know one another properly, she now knew that the construction worker had thought she was humouring him, something she had been certain to clear up. She was there because she liked him. A lot. She stood in front of the mirror admiring her dress and fixing her dreadlocks that were down for once, her makeup was simple aside from dark red lips and she'd matched the dress with strappy gold shoes to match her earrings. She hoped Daryl liked it, it was all for him.

She had stopped in front of the hallway mirror for one last check when the intercom buzzed, she rushed to phone answering "I'll be down in a minute" she said breathlessly into the phone

"Yer not gonna invite me in for a pre-party drink? Should I be offended?" Daryl chuckled through the intercom

"Drinks are for after the party" she countered

"Alright, well I'll be waitin' sweetheart."

She hung up the phone and picked up her clutch, heading out and locking the door behind her before heading downstairs. She walked through the lobby and out the front doors, finding Daryl leaning against a black mustang, the car was stunning, but not as stunning as the man leaning against it. He wore a black checkered sweater with a grey shirt and black tie underneath, black dress pants and a pair of black dress shoes, he looked amazing.

"Woah, yew look gorgeous" he beamed

"I could say the same for you Daryl" she grinned

"Naw we're not even in the same category, I ain't even worthy of takin' yew to yer Christmas party" he said as he opened the passenger's side door for her.

"Don't even talk like that Daryl, you're better than most of the men that will be attending, they're all sleazy lawyers. They wouldn't know an honest day's work if it hit them upside the head" she spoke fiercely, she despised most of the men she worked with, aside from Hershel Greene and Dale Horvath they were all hot shot lawyers who used underhanded tactics to win.

"Guess I'll see fer myself" he smiled as he started the car.

The rest of the drive was silent, both too nervous to speak, they held hands the whole way, comfortable with the silence.

"There's no turning back now" Michonne chuckled as she got out, linking her arm with Daryl's.

"Wouldn't dream of it sweetheart" under that brash exterior was nerves, he covered them up with his words but she beginning to recognize that the man wasn't as confident as he seemed.

She led him into the building where she was met by Dale "Hello Michonne" he greeted her warmly

"Dale, it's great to see you again. This is Daryl, Daryl this is Dale." She introduced, the men shook hands, there was no awkwardness between them, Michonne guessed it was because Dale was such a warm man.

"it's nice to met yew sir" Daryl smiled, his nerves shining through

"Relax, call me Dale, It's nice to meet you young man. Well I better leave you guys to it, enjoy the party" he wandered away leaving the couple to it.

"He seemed nice" Daryl commented

"He's the best" Michonne smiled fondly "and he liked you"

"how do yew know?" he questioned

"he never tells anyone to call him Dale, there's only a few of us on first name basis with him" she chuckled, it made her strangely proud.

"Meesh! There you are!" Andrea exclaimed "Daryl! What are you doing here?"

"He's my date" Michonne chuckled

"so this is your mystery date" the blonde grinned

"in the flesh" Daryl answered with a chuckle "it's good to see you again Andrea"

"you too Daryl" she turned to tap the shoulder of the man who was busy talking to Hershel, gaining his attention

"Guys this is Rick, Rick this is Michonne and Daryl." She introduced

"I didn't expect to see yer ugly mug here" Daryl chuckled as he shook his best friend's hand

"right back at yah Dixon, how'd you manage to convince such a beautiful woman to bring you to the party?"

"wait, you two know each other?" the blonde looked confused, as did Michonne

"Know each other? We've been best friends since high school. I was the one who told Daryl to get Merle to come to you" the sheriff grinned

"You did?!" Andrea looked like she was about to burst from excitement

"why wouldn't I? I never win an argument, figure you must put that talent to good use as a lawyer" he teased

"as fun as this reunion has been, I'm going to see Hershel." Michonne and Daryl left the two lovebirds to their romantic banter.

"Feel better now Daryl?" she questioned with a smile

"Didn't need Rick fer that, I have yew" he winked.

The night was drawing to a close as Daryl pulled up outside Michonne's apartment building, he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself that even, between Rick and Andrea's antics and his amazing date he couldn't ask for more.

"We should do this again" Michonne said quietly as they leaned closer to one another

"I'd love too" he whispered as their faces drifted closer, their lips finally meet in soft tender kiss, the feel of her lips was even better than Daryl imagined. They broke the kiss before kissing a few more times, each time the passion grew.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Daryl was opening the passenger's side door for her.

"I'm walking yew up to yer apartment" he insisted

"you don't have to do that Daryl" she smiled

"I don't but I'm going to anyway" he chuckled

"Fine" she huffed in fake defeat.

Michonne really didn't mind if they kissed a few more times on the way, in fact, she was going to make sure of it. She'd never felt more connected to man in her life.


End file.
